I find some aspects of New Thought to be very uplifting and powerful, but there is a dark side described well in this article. It seems like humans have a tendency to be bullies whether coming from a fundamentalist or a New Thought perspective. Something to guard against.

I find some aspects of New Thought to be very uplifting and powerful, but there is a dark side described well in this article. It seems like humans have a tendency to be bullies whether coming from a fundamentalist or a New Thought perspective. Something to guard against.

Poignant article, MsTopaz!

I'd like to know, though, just what aspects of New Thought are either "powerful" or "uplifting"?

And 'New Thought' is certainly ill-named, as it doesn't appear to contain a single new thought of any description.

I "hang out" out here curious to see if New Thought can produce what it claims to have. Any problem with that?

No problem as long as you aren't just here to troll. But this forum is so quiet, I guess I should be glad someone besides me is writing ANYTHING!

I like exploring ideas, so the notion of 'new thought' really intrigued me. As I've already said, though, I just haven't come across any in so-called 'New Thought'. It seems to me to be little more than old ideas repackaged in rather vague and uninteresting ways.

Ugh! This article perfectly points out so many problems with New Thought. It really is arrogant isn't it? I recall this BS when I attended Unity. The minister was aware of some of this and tried to curtail it, but it still came up. At least in traditional religions people would say "I'm so sorry that you are ill, can I do anything for you. I'd like to cook a meal for you to help lighten your load." No in NT it is your fault, you created it. Since your still in Unity. Grab their eyeglasses and run away with them. Then throw an analogy at them. You are so unaware of true spiritual principles that you attracted me to manifest literal blindness into your own life. I felt called to remove your eyeglasses." I'm just kidding, but you can think this secretly think this the next time someone puts on the" I'm more spiritually advanced than you are" hat.

A a few years ago I went with a friend to see a speaker whom she admired greatly. He used Landmark Forum tactics to demand people fill out forms to a workshop whether or not they were going to attend. His pressure was relentless and made me feel uncomfortable and I recognized this bullying from my experience with the Forum. He was an attractive man even though he was drinking his blue whatever juice and put on a fake forced smile - the type of smile that is limited to the outside of the mouth and not the eyes or whole face. He talked about how he lost everything and regained it. He talked about his house, his car, his relationships, everything was peachy. How talked how he had abundance in every aspect of his life. (He made his living doing these workshops and books telling others how to do well in life.) He seemingly invented nothing, created nothing, discovered nothing. He simply told everyone else how to make a living. I sat in my seat looking at this quack and hoped my friend would snap out of her being so enamoured by him and his book. He told everyone how they needed to take this workshop with him. He claimed that he knew how to help everyone. At the break, she got in line for him to sign her book and he verbally slammed her when he found out she was not taking his workshop. She returned to he seat mortified and I was so proud that she came to her senses and saw through him. I told her I was happy that she was able to see that this man is full of BS. I told her that I predicted that this (Unity) man would one day have another fall that will be greater than the one he explained to the group and would lose everything.

Today James Authur Ray is in prison for killing three people during the sweatlodge workshop that he was trying to sell to the group. I saw firsthand how he pressured people to even sign up for the workshop and made them feel like idiots if they did not. I am not surprised that he bullied people to stay in the lodge while he stood outside encouraging them to continue though some were dying inside. I understand that he was unable to properly respond when he was fully aware of the seriousness of the matter. It's as if he clicked into denial.

The fact is that he did not care about the individuals in the room I sat in, he cared more about impressing the group. I recently read the following: Harley Brown on phonies -- "I started out believing in those strutting, pompous types who came into my life. Eventually I learned to spot them. You can too. They are very smooth, and what they say and what they promise to do for you sounds too good to be true. It generally is. A dead giveaway is anyone whose approach is base on impressing you rather than being interested in you." That goes for people who try to impart their great metaphysical knowledge and understanding to you. If they are not coming to your door with a dish of rigitoni in hand or offering to help you out - without questions or comments - take a second look at their motives. Words are empty, actions speak volumes.

Regarding the off topic conversation of New Thought. I told you how many times, Namchuck, that new thought is about an individual changing their own perception and way they view life! It has nothing to do with the information, ideas, books, or stuff outside of the person. If you disliked someone because you thought that they were rude and then one day you realized that the person was actually ill and was acting out because of a chemical reaction. You would have a shift in your view of this person ---- a new thought, a new outlook on the situation, a new opinion... If someone were to accept the reality of Higgs and say "Oh my! the beginnings of life is totally different from my view of the world being 6K years old." They would have a new thought! a new mindset and view of the world that would effect it from this point forward! Stop it Namchuck! Stop it! Yes I get your view, but just stop it!

Regarding the materials that the metaphysical religion of NT uses. Many are centuries old. They are adapted from the Bible, and many other religious texts. Unity has admitted that they cherry picked all the best teachings from the world's religions. You could even find a little paganism if you look. The formation of NT as a formal belief system occured back in about the 1880s maybe as early as 1840s.